The "Old Nashville" The engine for Lincoln's Funeral Train

civilwarincolor

2nd Lieutenant
Joined
Oct 27, 2012
Location
California
I consulted with Dr. Wesolowski for the color choices for this image. He created the model of the funeral train that is on display at the Lincoln Library. He was also instrumental in the colors for the funeral car that I did recently (see here) and was a consultant for the "Lincoln Funeral Train" project (see here), that team is using the "Leviathan" which carried the funeral car at different times along with the "Old Nashville".

To obtain the colors for this train Dr. Wesolowski shared reference photos showing closeups of the model that he made for the Lincoln Library. Without his help I would have ended up with completely different color choices.

It is amazing how much research can go into these things!

I10033_w.jpg
 
I consulted with Dr. Wesolowski for the color choices for this image. He created the model of the funeral train that is on display at the Lincoln Library. He was also instrumental in the colors for the funeral car that I did recently (see here) and was a consultant for the "Lincoln Funeral Train" project (see here), that team is using the "Leviathan" which carried the funeral car at different times along with the "Old Nashville".

To obtain the colors for this train Dr. Wesolowski shared reference photos showing closeups of the model that he made for the Lincoln Library. Without his help I would have ended up with completely different color choices.

It is amazing how much research can go into these things!

I10033_w.jpg
I gave my step-dad, 89 years old, this photo framed, but in B & W...This is beautiful! Nice work!
 
Nice job. It is a great engine.

Thanks Donna. It's too bad that neither the engines (Nashville or Leviathan) or the funeral car still exist. I would love to see the train during it passage on the reenactment, but unless they decide to swing through California I don't think it will happen.
 
Just located this post while searching for information on early locomotives.

Fantastic job! Given all the research you obviously put into this, I'm wondering if you might recognize the train on this 1862 Confederate bill from the Southern Railroad - yours looks as similar as anything I've found so far. (I'm building a mock-up and need to find a replica.)

Thanks!

Train-Southern RR.png
 
Just located this post while searching for information on early locomotives.

Fantastic job! Given all the research you obviously put into this, I'm wondering if you might recognize the train on this 1862 Confederate bill from the Southern Railroad - yours looks as similar as anything I've found so far. (I'm building a mock-up and need to find a replica.)

Thanks!

Thanks so much for your comments. I am certainly no expert on trains. I contacted Dr. Wesolowski who prepared the model for the Lincoln Library and he was able to help me with photographs and details. He is a retired university professor and was kind enough to help me with my image. He gave me a number of detailed photographs and a report that he had written on the train which included color samples. He asked me specifically to not share either the report or the detail photos with others though, so I am honoring his request.

I would encourage you to also reach out to the model train community to see what they can do to help.
 
Forrest, there's not a lot of clear detail in that banknote image, but there are a couple of locomotives profiled in John H. White Jr's American Locomotives: An Engineering History, 1830-1880 that are quite similar. It's a very good resource.
 
Bernard Kempinski built a model of the Lincoln Funeral Car for the B&O Museum in 2014, based on Dr. Wesolowski's research. You can read about it here:

http://usmrr.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-united-states-lincolns-funeral-car.html

http://usmrr.blogspot.com/2014/12/gauge-1-lincoln-funeral-car-finished.html

Wow, those are great. Did not have those images when I was working on the photo of the funeral car. Since we both based our work on Dr. Wesolowski's work, I think the results are about the same. For this image of the Nashville Dr. Wesolowski also provided me with a few additional images of the version of the train he had made, so he actually consulted on two images The Nashville and the Lincoln Funeral Car.
 
Thanks Civilwarincolor and AndyHall - much appreciated. The reason I chose the train in this fuzzy bill is that it's on a 'Southern Railroad' Vicksburg bill and I'm in the planning stages for a model of the old Depot and surrounding area. I don't think it's critical that I get an exact match, as the image on the bill might even be from a photo of a Northern train - I have no idea. I'm leaning toward getting a model of 'The General', as it's similar...and cool. Like most of my projects, it will probably fade away and be replaced with something else, but for now it lives.
 
Thanks Civilwarincolor and AndyHall - much appreciated. The reason I chose the train in this fuzzy bill is that it's on a 'Southern Railroad' Vicksburg bill and I'm in the planning stages for a model of the old Depot and surrounding area. I don't think it's critical that I get an exact match, as the image on the bill might even be from a photo of a Northern train - I have no idea. I'm leaning toward getting a model of 'The General', as it's similar...and cool. Like most of my projects, it will probably fade away and be replaced with something else, but for now it lives.
Please check out my site: www.csa-railroads.com. In the middle of the top navigation bar is "Images." You will find many photos of locomotives there. I have 2 Southern bills, neither with the locomotive you posted; what date and denomination does your image come from? Is it available on the web?
 
One thing to be cautious about is that those old currency notes sometimes used generic advertising cuts in their printing, that may not necessarily be connected to the company or area issuing the notes. As an example, here's a similar image from that same period:

Old Loco.png


You might want to look to Dave Bright's CSA Railroads site, that gives (in many cases) detail on locomotives and rolling stock for various railroads. You may be able to identify specific locomotives and their makers that way that will pertain to your specific scene:

http://www.csa-railroads.com/

If it's the Southern Railroad of Mississippi you're working with, Dave has a list of 18 identified locomotives, with builders and basic specs for each, c. 1863.
 
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One thing to be cautious about is that those old currency notes sometimes used generic advertising cuts in their printing, that may not necessarily be connected to the company or area issuing the notes.

Thanks - that's almost the exact train. I'm early in the planning of this - given that it's probably from a generic image, I'll just wait. I never had a model railroad as a kid, so it's nice to finally think I have an excuse to build one!
 
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